Trump's Spiritual Advisor Claims Holy Spirit Told Him Ukraine a "Beacon of Religious Freedom"

On March 30, 2025, evangelical pastor Mark Burns visited Ukraine at the invitation of Chief Rabbi Moshe Azman. Azman introduced Burns as the "personal spiritual advisor" to U.S. President Donald Trump.

As part of his visit, a so-called “multi-faith religious forum” was arranged at the rabbi’s initiative, bringing together representatives of various minority religious communities operating in Ukraine. In addition to Jewish leaders, attendees included Michael Onyshchenko, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; Oleksandr Drabinko, a "metropolitan" of the OCU; Ihor Shaban of the UGCC; and pastors from Protestant denominations. A representative of the Presidential Office, Oleg Havrysh, was also present.

Following the event, Pastor Burns took to Facebook, claiming he had met with “Ukraine’s top religious leaders.” He described their testimonies of alleged Russian religious persecution as “heartbreaking,” citing figures of over 20,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children, the destruction of more than 700 houses of worship, and clergy “brutally murdered.” Despite this, he praised Ukraine as a “beacon of religious freedom, welcoming ALL faiths.”

However, Burns' sweeping declarations raised immediate questions.

In the comments under his post, a user asked whether he had met with representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) under Metropolitan Onuphry—the canonical Orthodox Church which has faced significant state persecution in Ukraine.

Burns responded with a photo showing the backs of Drabinko and Onyshchenko and vaguely asserted: “Yes, Bishop Andriy is seen in this photo. He explained that it is the Russian Orthodox Church and Russians in the occupied territories who are doing this.” Notably, Burns did not clarify who “Bishop Andriy” is or explain what connection the UOC has to the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in occupied territories.

Instead, he claimed that the Holy Spirit told him there's no persecution from the Ukrainian government.

"The Holy Spirit doesn't lie. And when you have a real relationship with God, He and He alone will bear witness to what the Spirit is saying. There is no propaganda in my post."

Group photos from the forum show that no UOC clergy were at the event.

Instead, Burns was convinced that the schismatics are the Orthodox Church, and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under persecution is instead the "Russian Orthodox Church." It is curious that the Holy Spirit did not reveal to Pastor Burns how the "church" of "bishop" Andriy has spent half a decade raiding and stealing churches, assaults clergy and old women; or how every group with which he met were zealous supporters of the ban on the UOC.

Perhaps Pastor Burn's "connection to the Holy Spirit" is not so strong after all. It is curious how often "Bible-believing" Protestants miss the advice of St. John the Theologian "not [to] believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God" [1 Jn. 4:1].

Beyond the forum, Burns was also given a guided tour of Bucha and Irpin—locations frequently highlighted in discussions of the war.

Earlier, UOJ reported that Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the UGCC, admitted his church does not understand the direction of the Trump administration’s policies—an observation that seems particularly relevant given Burns’ selective narrative on religious freedom in Ukraine.

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